No BRICS currency proposal yet, says MEA

The Ministry of External Affairs clarified that there is no proposal for a common BRICS currency at present, though discussions on trade in local currencies continue. MEA official Sudhakar Dalela highlighted that local currency settlements can reduce transaction costs and complement global payment systems.

New Delhi: There is no proposal for a BRICS currency “as of now”, while discussions on trade in local currencies have been underway for some time, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Saturday.

In a press briefing, MEA’s Secretary, Economic Relations, Sudhakar Dalela, said: “There is no proposal in the BRICS for a BRICS currency as of now.”

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“Discussions on trade in local currencies have been underway for some time,” he said.

“We believe local currency settlement is a practical mechanism to reduce transaction costs in bilateral trade. This has been encouraged as complementary to the global payment and settlement system, improving overall global trade across nations,” he said.

The mechanism can help reduce transaction costs in bilateral trade and is being encouraged as a complement to the global payment system.

Dalela further stated that the ‘BRICS MSME’ cooperation portal, cooperation on global value chains, and logistics frameworks were among the key highlights during the BRICS Summit.

He said that BRICS cooperation on DPI, a science and research repository, and collaboration on startups were also the key highlights.

Dalela said it had been a year of robust participation and engagement, with more than 350 meetings held under India’s BRICS chair. He described it as a “whole-of-nation effort”, with BRICS engagement taking place in more than 30 cities across the country.

He further informed that there were 150 practical outcomes across four pillars from the BRICS Summit.

“Strengthening food and health security, and BRICS cooperation on mental health were some of the important highlights,” he said.

The BRICS group of emerging economies on Saturday unanimously adopted the New Delhi Declaration, in which it voiced serious concern over the rise of unilateral tariffs and non-tariff measures that distort trade and are inconsistent with the rules of the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

The BRICS nations reaffirmed their “unwavering support for reform of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) and to strengthening a non-discriminatory, open, equitable, transparent, fair, inclusive, predictable and rules-based multilateral trading system, with the WTO at its core”.

Echoing the aspirations of the Global South to fully integrate into the multilateral trading system, the declaration strongly supports Ethiopia and Iran’s bid for accession to the WTO. It acknowledges China for expanding its zero-tariff treatment to cover 53 African countries with which it has diplomatic ties.

Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on Friday called on BRICS member and partner countries to deepen economic cooperation by opening markets, simplifying regulatory procedures, linking payment systems and promoting trade in local currencies.